Spanked kids =Lower IQs

Looks fairly solid research and it is certainly believable once you clock the fact that stress and fear inhibit learninng. The report article is here:
Children Who Are Spanked Have Lower IQs, New Research Finds
The theorising to explain the data, which is the most important thing, is this: "The research found that the stress of corporal punishment shows up as an increase in post-traumatic stress symptoms such as being fearful that terrible things are about to happen and being easily startled. These symptoms are associated with lower IQ.
Second, a higher national level of economic development underlies both fewer parents using corporal punishment and a higher national IQ."
I think I'd add my own theory too: that the alternative stategies for discipline tend to be more 'cognitively sophisticated' and encourage more sophisticated thought in the children and the generation of better life-strategisation down the line.

There are some Christian groups who, I would suggest, might want to reconsider their interpretation of 'spare the rod, spoil the child'. Particularly as 'do as you would be done by' gains an interesting spin in the light of this finding. Do you not want to be more intelligent? Would you not want that for your child? For all of the possibilities of people being able to sin more intelligently, other research indicates that a better educated population is one where on the wwhole there are better life outcomes for people.